Recreational or sport fishing has constantly been increasing in popularity. What once was just a summertime hobby has become a yearlong activity for tens of millions worldwide. Many fishermen choose to engage in a very leisurely type of fishing that involves casting a fishing line, connected to baited hook(s) and a sinker-type device, into the water, to sit at a certain spot, while hoping to attract fish near that spot, through visual contact with the bait, or by the fish being attracted to the scent of the bait. Still other fishermen may use lures containing small amounts of scent or chum, or lures and bait, to attract fish to their hooks. The practice of chumming involves the introduction of large amounts of scented solid, particulate or liquid matter, into the water, in hopes of that particular scent will be attractive to many fish sought to be caught by a fisherman. Chumming has mostly been practiced from boats with several fishermen on board, and is a time proven method of attracting fish to the hooks or lures, to be caught by those fishermen.
Chum can consist of ground up fish parts and blood, food particles, or any other substance that is able to introduce a fish attracting scent into the water. Traditionally, chum is ladled into the water or put into the water in cloth bags. Then, the scent is pushed by the water currents into a much larger area than the scent of the fisherman's bait could cover. The result is a scent slick that attracts fish from a large area. This large area of fish-attracting scent dramatically increases the chances of catching fish as opposed to only relying on the scent from small pieces of bait to attract fish. Chum may be used in salt water or fresh water.
Large scale chumming has never been a practical answer for the individual fishermen. And many fish scent or chum-dispensing devices are too large and clumsy for the individual fisherman to use. Many known fish scent or chum-dispensing devices are not optimized to quickly and widely dispense fish scent or chum. The sooner fish-attracting scent is introduced to a wide area, the sooner the fish may be attracted and caught by the fisherman. Water does not easily flow into and out of current dispenser devices. It is often difficult to replace the fish scent, or chum, in current dispenser devices. Also, it is important to be able to timely refill the scent-dispensing device, to keep the device in the water, attracting more fish to be caught.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved fish scent dispenser that is smaller than current dispensers, quickly spreads the fish scent, allows water to easily flow into and out of the device, and is easy to refill and use.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.